Grammar: Will and Going to

 

a) Form

1. "Will"

	Form		Contraction
I	Will		I'll
You	Will		You'll
He / she / it	Will		He'll / She'll / It'll
We	Will		We'll
You	Will		You'll
They	Will		They'll

 

2. "Going to"

	Form		Contraction
I	am going to		I'm going to
You	are going to		You're going to
He / she / it	is going to		He's / She's / It's going to
We	are going to		We're going to
You	are going to		You're going to
They	are going to		They're going to

 

 

b) Use

1. We use "will" when we make decision at the time of speaking. A decision that has not been decided before.

Katie: Let's go out for dinner

Maria: That's a good idea. We'll go to the Chinese restaurant.

 

2. We use "going to" when we have already decided to do something.

(Maria and Katie have already decided to eat Chinese food)

Maria: Katie and I have decided to go out for dinner. We're going to eat Chinese.

James: That's nice.

 

Compare:

• "Manuel is in London". "Oh really? I didn't know. I'll phone him later"
• "Manuel is in London". "Yes, I know. I'm going to see him later"

 

3. We use "will" or "going to" when we are predicting what will happen:

• I think John will go to the party
• I think John is going to go to the party

 

4. We use "going to" when we use facts or events in the present situation as evidence for a prediction:

• It's going to rain
• Oh dear, I'm going to be late.

 

5. We use "going to" when something is clearly going to happen very soon and as a warning:

• Watch out, we're going to crash
• Be careful, you are going to drop those glasses

 

6. We use "will" when we are making a promise or an offer:

• I'll ring you later tonight
• I'll come round and help you later